Minneapolis, October 22, 2012—Walker Art Center’s Raising Creative Kids programs in November and December feature a workshop for kids with famed musician and composer Laurie Anderson at November Free First Saturday (Saturday, November 3, 10 am–3 pm), during Experimental Expressions, a day to celebrate creativity and curiosity. December’s Free First Saturday (Saturday, December 1, 10 am–3 pm) is a day of all-things Walker featuring comic strip artist Todd Balthazor. Also in November and December the Walker presents Arty Pants: Your Tuesday Playdate, the popular program designed to nurture creativity and engage a child’s mind. Arty Pants programs are presented on the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month and feature art projects, films, gallery activities, and story readings.

Free First Saturdays Are for FamiliesActivities are free and available on a first-come, first-served basis from 10 am–3 pm. Gallery admission is free from 10 am–5 pm on Free First Saturday.

Celebrate artists who bend the boundaries of live performance, film, and visual art. Find new ways to create meaning and curiosity through art-making, gallery explorations, and chance encounters. The day includes a free workshop with legendary performer Laurie Anderson in the William and Nadine McGuire Theater! In the Star Tribune Foundation Art Lab, join artist Margaret Pezalla-Granlund to play with light using mirrors, flashlights, and other low- and high-tech materials.

Workshop: Cool Music for Kids!: The Sounds of Laurie Anderson
William and Nadine McGuire Theater, 1 pmFree, but tickets required; tickets available in the Hennepin Lobby on November 3 beginning at 10 am.

A rare treat for the whole family. Get the inside scoop on electronic music and experimental performance from a legendary musician and composer. Laurie Anderson is a poet, visual artist, filmmaker, and a music pioneer who also invents ingenious gadgets. Did you know she was NASA’s first artist-in-residence? Anderson shares secrets about creating her unique musical sounds for violin and voice.

Note: This workshop is intended for children under age 18; adults must be accompanied by a minor.

Activity: Shimmer and ShineStar Tribune Foundation Art Lab, 10 am–3 pm
Join artist Margaret Pezalla Granlund as she transforms the Art Lab into a series of investigations about light. Wander through a luminous forest, play with infinite reflections and see the world in new and different ways.

Pezalla-Granlund has exhibited locally and nationally, and her work has been included in exhibitions at the Santa Monica Museum of Art, the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Angel’s Gate Cultural Center, and the Peabody Essex Museum. Pezalla-Granlund was recently awarded a McKnight Artist Fellowship for 2008-2009 and a Jerome Foundation Travel Study Grant for 2009 and 2011. She is interested in modeling the complex spaces of the natural and built landscape on scales both macro and micro.

Explore the galleries in new ways, share your thoughts about what you’re seeing, and get to know the Walker staff—all as part of a cool activity sheet designed by comic strip artist and Walker gallery assistant Todd Balthazor. Other activities include guided tours, gallery hunts, storytelling, and art-making activities

Gallery Activity 10 am–3 pmExplore the Walker in new ways as you wander with a special activity sheet designed by local artist Todd Balthazor. Comical illustrations will invite you to curate, ponder the meaning, play tour guide, and meet some of the friendly galleries guides.

Get a glimpse behind the Walker scene! Artist and illustrator Todd Balthazor will be doodling the day away for families’ enjoyment, including comical renderings of Walker staff. Balthazor is a satirical, often anthropomorphic illustrator, fine artist, muralist and children’s art instructor from St. Paul, Minnesota. He has completed artist residencies at Jackson Elementary and the St. Paul University Club and his work has been displayed in venues both locally and abroad, including illustrations in the Altered Esthetics Gallery (Minneapolis), the Walker Art Center web site, and multiple Red Leaf Press publications. Balthazor has also designed visual narratives at the Adugyama Art Exhibition (Ghana, Africa) and the Save the Children Nepal Project (Nepal, India), and murals at an orphanage in Jaurez, Mexico. Samples of his work can be found at toddbalthazor.com and toddbalthazor.blogspot.com.

What do hip kids and their (possibly) cooler parents do to ‘spark creativity? Attend Arty Pants: Your Tuesday Playdate, featuring programs for adults and youngsters ages 3–5. Join us each month on the second and fourth Tuesdays for art projects, films, gallery activities, and story time.

Art MovesHead into the galleries to explore the kinds of art that just can’t sit still—like the costumes that fashion designer Rei Kawakubo made for a dance by choreographer Merce Cunningham. In workshops inspired by that collaboration, you’ll join up with local dancer Timmy Wagner to create artful movements with your own body. Events include films, gallery games, and hands-on art activities.

WAC Packs for the GalleriesEnhance your artistic escapade with these hands-on activity packs. Games, story-telling, and art-making will enliven artworks for the whole family.

Laurie Anderson Photo: Maggie Soladay

The Walker Art Center is a catalyst for the creative expression of artists and the active engagement of audiences.